Rainy Days/Japan Tour Day 4

Ok, I really wanted to post this up on Sunday, but I got sidetracked a bit. Can only blame my anime addiction.. Oops.. Can't help it when I want to return to the anime I bought years ago :p

Brr.. the weather these days really remind me of the days back in Japan. Rain... stop... rain... stop... rain... well, you get the picture. Like what Jack Ho told me on Sunday afternoon when I popped by HMV Heeren to catch Jack and Rai's album launch there, it feels like the rainy season hit our shores really early. Kinda sucky it puts a damper on my journeys when I'm outside. Ah well. There's nothing I can do about it. The boys performed a live set and conducted a pop quiz session for cd giveaways. Small crowd though, guess it's due to the rain. Jean Danker was on hand as the host as well. Managed to take a shot with the duo with my (new) hp, as I forgot to bring my cam down. And was kinda surprised that Rai remembered my name...

Been catching up on my backlog of stuff lately, mostly on the anime I have collected over the years that I've yet to watch. There's STILL the backlog of 20+ books I've yet to finish or even touch -_-" Also trying to meet up with some friends and catch up with them. Just met Cat on last Friday over lunch at Suntec and chatted bout our current life. Guess it's inevitable that busy schedules and work will keep friends apart. Hope to be able to meet some others over coffee or lunch when I can.

Been busy as well with some issues over guitars. No, I'm not buying another one... Yet anyway :p Guess that'll take a few years to save up, at the current price it's going at. What I'm currently GASing for. But anyway, it's over a new case for my Taylor. Yes, I'm tired of carrying around a 30 lb hardcase on the buses and trains that make up the public transport on our sunny (rainy, more like it these days) island. So me and Hann from Guitar4Christ were trying out some Tric cases to make sure they fit our GS-es. Apparently, there was one Dreadnought-sized Tric that Wili from the boards let us try and didn't fit. Ouch. And there's another supposedly same-sized Tric that did. Just praying hard that it'll fit and I have a lighter alternative to my current case. Falling in love with my Taylor all over again as I changed the strings to Elixir .13 PBs and changed the bridge pins to amber-stained buffalo horn, which balanced out the sound nicely with more bass and more sustain. Sweeter on the mids and highs too.

Another day just went by. Guess there's too much in the itinerary for my liking. Went to another few places again today. Ramen factory, Wasabi farm, Mt. Norikura, morning market. And a really long bus ride which took up most of the day. Really amazing how the roads were built into the mountains, winding along the edges while rivers flowed below. Norikura was beautiful, as you can see in the web album, but the rain spoiled things again. Took some nice shots of the snow amidst the surrounding peaks at 10 degress celsius. Brrr... Surprisingly, there were shops open. Saw mittens but they were too colourful for my taste. Ah well. Ramen factory and the other stops weren't that much to write about. Just tourist traps, though the wasabi farm offered some insights into how wasabi was grown and made. Tried wasabi ice-cream despite the cold weather and it was surprisingly nice, not spicy at all. Though I was shivering for quite a bit afterwards. The farm and its surroundings are really beautiful, set in the midst of the Japanese Alps. Too bad I'm running low on shots. There's still Tokyo tomorrow and the Mt. Fuji visitors' centre in the morning. Disneyland after that, and another 1.5 hour ride into Toyko proper. Hope there's time to shop. Really wanna get my stuff. There's still some 70k yen in my wallet and I've already bought the food stuff for friends. Time to sleep I guess. Parents are already in bed now (10pm). Can't really do much now. Tv's not really receiving anything. It's a small hotel after all. Shucks. Oyasumi.

"Who, then, is the man that fears the LORD? He will instruct him in the way chosen for him. He will spend his days in prosperity, and his descendants will inherit the land. The LORD confides in those who fear him; he makes his covenant known to them." Psalm 25:12-14